Do visitors to your website become your customers? After all, that’s why you have a website, right? You want people to find it and either use it to contact you or buy something from it. 

The percentage of website visitors that take your desired business action (for example, fill out a lead form, call you, buy something, subscribe to your newsletter) is called your “conversion rate.” And for most security companies, their website conversion rate sucks.

Why are conversion rates so low? Here are some common mistakes we see, and what you can do to avoid them.

Website Mistake 1: No clear reasons to buy from you instead of the other guy. One of the most important questions you must answer to generate a lead or make a sale is, “Why should I spend my hard-earned time/money with you instead of your competitor?” Most websites, and companies, don’t do a good job of answering that question. They say things like, “Our culture is built around customer service,” or “We’ve got the best people in the business.” The problem is that your competitor says the same thing.   

Solution: Prominently feature on all major pages of your site clear reasons why a prospect should do business with you instead of your competitor.          

Website Mistake 2: Trying to create demand rather than harvest demand. Think about this for a minute. A prospect needs a home security system, so they go to the page on your website about home security and what do they find? On most alarm company’s websites, they find a list of reasons why they should have home security and what it will do for them. Here is the problem with that: they’ve already decided they’re interested in a home security system. What they need to know is why they should get one from you instead of the other guy. 

Solution: Don’t waste space on your webpage telling a prospect why they need a home security system and what it will do for them. Instead, focus on why they should buy a home security system from you.

Website Mistake 3: You haven’t given website visitors a reason to trust you. Are there clear indicators on the major pages of your website that you can be trusted? After all, you are selling security. If they don’t trust you, they won’t buy from you. Many sites have no clear trust indicators.

Solution: Use trust badges, reviews, testimonials, or other indications that your company knows what it is doing to earn the trust of your users and convince them to follow through. You can also use money back guarantees and free trials to cross that gap.

Website Mistake 4: You don’t ask for the business. Many webpages on security company websites talk about why you need a system and its features. They don’t contain words that urge the reader of a webpage to take an immediate action, such as “Call Now,” or “Click Here to Claim Your Free Doorbell Camera.” That’s like making a sales call and not asking for the order. 

Solution: Use call-to-action statements on your webpages and blog posts that urge the webpage reader to act now. 

Website Mistake 5: Not paying consistent attention to website performance metrics. Most alarm company owners and marketing managers only know two things about their websites: they know they have one and they know they don’t get leads or sales from it. They never take the time to review website performance data. Failure to look at website analytics is like an integrator that never looks at job costing reports. Website performance data provides insight into site user behaviors, interests and actions. It spotlights problem areas that need resolution and helps you identify opportunities. 

Solution: Make sure to install the free version of Google Analytics on your website. Use YouTube videos to develop a working understanding of how to read and generate reports or hire a firm you trust to do it for you.